The Duke's Defiant Debutante

by Gemma Blackwood

  "There is nothing great about me, Miss Stirling."

  "On the contrary, Your Grace. You are a Duke, and I am only a Miss!"

  "Titles are not so very important. You will understand when you have one."

  "Ah, yes." Angelica grew pensive. "I am to be a Duchess."

  "You are, indeed."

  She shot him a sly glance. "What am I to call you, when I am a Duchess? Do Dukes and Duchesses call each other Your Grace? It seems so stuffy!"

  "You may call me what you wish, Miss Stirling."

  "What do your friends call you?"

  "Lathkill calls me Thorne."

  Angelica's nose crinkled as she considered this. "Thorne is such a strong name. Strong, and cold. I would prefer something warmer. I would prefer to call you Edward. If no-one else calls you Edward, all the better. It would be something just for me."

  "Just for you," Edward repeated, taking her hand and placing it on his arm. "Very well. And what shall I call you, Miss Stirling?"

  "Why, Edward, when I am Duchess of Redhaven, you may only address me as Your Grace. You see, I have not had the opportunity of being a Your Grace before. I mean to make the most of it."

  To Edward's astonishment, he felt a small smile begin to tug at his lips. If you had asked him an hour earlier whether anything would be sufficient to raise his spirits after the news of Lord Oliver's arrival in London, his answer would have been no. But here was the indomitable Miss Angelica Stirling, forcing him to smile whether he wanted to or not.

  "I don't think so, Angelica," he murmured. "You have such a pretty name, it would be a shame to waste it."

  Angelica met his eyes with a look of astonishment. Had he been too familiar, too quickly? She was a person who invited familiarity, after all. Edward felt his own deficiencies more painfully than ever. Angelica was right. He was strong, but cold. And she was warm and lovely.

  "Edward..." she began. A gale of laughter from behind them interrupted her. Her gaze darted back to her sister, full of concern. "I do wish Lord Lathkill would take care. He ought not to make her laugh so. If she should have a fit of breathlessness, here in the park..."

  "She looks well enough to me."

  Angelica sighed. "She always looks well – until she isn't."

  "Should we turn back?"

  An unreadable expression flashed across Angelica's face. It passed so quickly that Edward couldn't tell whether it was disappointment or relief. "That would be wise, Your Grace."

  "Edward," he corrected her. Angelica smiled.

  "Edward. Yes, let's turn back. But walk slowly. I don't want Lily to know I'm worried about her."

  "Your concern for your sister does you great credit, Angelica."

  "It's only natural. If you knew how she has suffered... But let us not speak of that. Dark thoughts are not fit for the sunshine and the open air. Edward, you promised me that you were going to read some Shakespeare. Have you had any opportunity? I could recommend you a sonnet or two, but I am not convinced that love poetry will move you the way it ought to. I expect you will like the tragedies better. And you won't even know what you're missing!"

  "You are a blessing in a dark world," said Edward, smiling again. Who could not be pleased by Angelica's facility in turning from a painful topic to a pleasant one? He tucked her hand more tightly under his arm. She looked at him shyly, surprised by the compliment. He was surprised at himself. It was not like him to speak so gently to anyone.

  "Tell me about the sonnets," he said, when the silence became too awkward to bear. Angelica cleared her throat.

  "I will do one better. I will recite some to you. Now, pay close attention. That time of year thou mayst in me behold..."

  Unconsciously, their steps slowed in tandem to match the rhythm of the poetry. Edward stole a glance at his bright-eyed young fiancée.

  She was talkative, yes. Infernally talkative. She was young and naïve in many ways. She was strong-willed, a little too lively, a little too prone to speaking her mind.

  And yet...

  Without even realising it, Edward had begun to think that his choice of bride might not have been such a mistake after all.

  Chapter Nine

  The strangeness of Angelica's new status as a Duke's fiancée took some time to wear off. Some mornings she woke up full of excitement, dancing down the corridors dreaming of stately balls and beautiful dresses, or standing on tiptoe in front of the mirror to practice receiving guests in the castle that would soon be her home.

  Other days, she was full of misgiving. She still felt she did not truly know her husband-to-be. Edward was still the same reserved, unreadable man he had been the night they first danced together. He was a mystery she was not sure she wanted to solve.

  And...perhaps it was silly. But Angelica had always secretly dreamed she would marry for love.

  That dream, like so many other childish things, had now been put aside.

  The rhythm of London life was easier to grow accustomed to. Angelica attended every ball she could manage, visited the theatre to her heart's content, and regularly came home in the early hours of the morning. Breakfast was a lazy affair, taking place shortly before midday, and Tuesdays and Thursdays were her afternoons to be At Home to visitors.

  If Angelica had once thought her At Home mornings dull, that was nothing compared to the excruciating boredom she felt now. It was not that she did not receive enough guests. Far from it. Ever since the word of her engagement had spread, she had been called upon by more ladies than she cared to name, all of them eager to draw her on the subject of her fiancé's dastardly past.

  They were all far too polite to ask her outright, of course. In fact, that was the problem. They were all extremely polite, extremely well-behaved, and extremely dull.

  Angelica despised nothing more than making genteel small talk. She began to dread her Tuesdays and Thursdays with a passion.

  So it was with a false smile and a heavy heart that she read the name Miss Valentina Drake upon a crisply-printed calling card one Thursday afternoon.

  "Do show her in, Mr Hinchley" she said to the butler. While she waited, posed in a perfect attitude of expectation, she tried to remember who Miss Drake could possibly be. Were they already acquainted? Was she one of the Northumberland Drakes? What was her family?

  Her mother was not on hand to help her. She was upstairs with Lily, who was enduring one of her regular visits from the doctor. They would not be down again for some time.

  Miss Valentina Drake turned out to be an exceptionally well-dressed woman a few years older than Angelica herself. They had never met before.

  Angelica ran her eyes over Miss Drake's beautiful white dress, embroidered with small pink flowers, her elegant quilted spencer, and her fussy little bonnet, adorned with a pink ribbon. Beneath the bonnet was a face of sharp contours and angles. Miss Drake was not beautiful so much as striking. Her features were currently improved by a beaming smile.

  "Am I lucky enough to be in the presence of Miss Angelica Stirling?" she asked breathlessly. Angelica smiled and gave a small curtsy.

  "That's me. Very pleased to meet you."

  "And I am simply delighted to meet you, my dear!" Valentina strode forward and clasped Angelica's hand. "After all, before long, we will be family!"

  "We will?" Angelica remembered her manners and indicated a seat. "Please, won't you sit down? You said family?"

  Valentina flounced onto the sofa with such force that her skirts puffed up around her. "Yes, my dear Angelica! Oh, I may call you Angelica, mayn't I? You see, I've never had a sister before!"

  "A sister?" Angelica repeated, quite at a loss. Did Edward have another sister? She had only ever heard of the tragic Adelaide – and that was only from other people. Edward never spoke of his family himself.

  "Oh, I know," sighed Valentina, "we will not exactly be sisters – cousins rather – but I want us to be bosom companions. As close as close can be!"

  Angelica dearly wanted to tell this over-enthusiastic woman that
she already had a sister, thank you very much, and was not in need of another. But that would have been rude, and, after all, Valentina seemed to have the best intentions.

  "You must forgive me, Miss Drake –"

  "Oh! Call me Valentina, do!"

  "Valentina," Angelica forced a smile. "I am afraid you have me at a disadvantage. I am at a loss as to what our family connection might be."

  Valentina gasped in horror and raised a hand to her lips. "He hasn't told you!"

  "Who hasn't told me what?" Angelica was not known for her patience. At that moment, she felt rather saint-like.

  "The Duke! He hasn't told you that there is to be a double wedding in the family!" Valentina let loose a tinkling little laugh that set Angelica's teeth on edge. "Angelica, I am betrothed to Mr Reginald Thorne."

  Angelica's blank face caught Valentina off guard. She faltered for a moment.

  "Surely you have heard of Mr Thorne? He will shortly be your cousin, after all."

  "One of Edward's relatives?" Angelica guessed. "No, I have not heard of him."

  "Oh, dear." To Angelica's horror, tears began to shine in Valentina's eyes. "Oh, dear me, dear me. What a dreadful situation this is!"

  "Now, there's no need to be embarrassed. Here, let me ring for some tea."

  "I am not embarrassed, my dear. I am simply devastated at the cruelty – the arrogance – the unforgiving nature – of men!" Valentina dabbed her eyes with a lace-edged handkerchief. "Tea would be simply marvellous, thank you."

  Angelica rang the bell, ordered hot water, milk and the tea set from the maid, and went to the tea cabinet herself to unlock it with the little silver key she kept on a ribbon around her neck. Tea was much too expensive to be trusted to the servants. Angelica still felt a little thrill every time she was allowed to open the beautiful oak-panelled cabinet.

  "Now, my dear Angelica," said Valentina, once they were settled and sipping delicately from the bone china cups. "Let me explain everything to you. I cannot tell you how sorry I am that the Duke has not already made it all quite clear! For my part, my dear Reginald keeps nothing a secret from me. He tells me everything. I think it's much better that way, don't you agree?"

  "Is it a love match between you?" Angelica was doing her best to be polite, but, judging by the way Valentina's eyebrows jumped upwards, she had said something out of place.

  Valentina gave a genteel little cough. "A love match. What a question! Yes, I suppose it is. I do care for Reginald very deeply."

  "How lovely." Angelica's smile grew harder to maintain with every moment.

  "Where were we? Ah, yes. I was telling you the dreadful story of the Thorne family. The family which we two will shortly be part of. You see, I am afraid that Reginald and the Duke have not embraced each other with the brotherly love due to a close relative."

  "Why is that?"

  "Truly, my dear, I cannot quite say. Reginald has always admired his cousin. He speaks of him with the utmost deference – oh, you would love to hear the wonderful things he has to say about the Duke, I'm sure! But His Grace does not return his affection. In fact, he has always been rather standoffish – cold, even, some might say. I cannot begin to tell you how sorely it affects my dear Reginald. He wants nothing more than to be reconciled with his cousin."

  "That is a pity," said Angelica. "But I don't see what I can do about it. Edward doesn't presume to tell me who I should and shouldn't befriend, and I would never dream of doing the same to him."

  "You have not had the opportunity," said Valentina. "By all accounts, the Duke is a solitary man. I am beginning to think that he does not understand the meaning of the word friendship."

  Angelica shifted uncomfortably. She felt that she ought to speak up in Edward's defence, but Valentina had said nothing which she could outright deny. Edward did not have many friends among the ton. In fact, he had made it quite clear that he despised most of them as rumour-mongering, frivolous gossips. If his cousin fell under the same definition, that was unfortunate for the family – but there was nothing Angelica could do about it herself.

  "Edward holds very high standards for his companions," she said, eventually. "I cannot bring myself to call that a flaw."

  "But there is such thing as forgiveness, Angelica! Such a thing as simple human kindness! Is the Duke truly so lacking in compassion that he refuses to reconcile with a much-abused cousin?"

  "I do not think Edward lacks compassion," said Angelica, remembering how swiftly he had responded to her concern for Lily on their walk in Hyde Park. "I am sure the reason for his break with Mr Thorne will become clear in time."

  "There is no possible excuse for it," said Valentina firmly. "Especially not when it threatens to keep us apart, my dear!" She placed her teacup neatly down and seized Angelica by the hands. "If the gentlemen cannot work things out between them, why, then it falls to us to help them!"

  Angelica tried to extricate herself from Valentina's grip without causing offence. "I have already told you. It is not up to me to choose Edward's friends."

  "Ah, but that is because you are still only his fiancée. When you are his wife, you will see how your powers of persuasion grow! There is nothing that a cunning wife cannot achieve once she sets her mind to it. And I think I am right in surmising that you are a very clever young woman. Probably much more clever than silly old me!"

  Angelica had the uncomfortable feeling that Valentina was deliberately flattering her to force her to agree. She wasn't sure that their brief acquaintance warranted such gushing affection.

  Still, what Valentina said made sense – even if she said it in a disconcerting manner. In Angelica's opinion, Edward did need more friends. He had spent many years shutting himself away from society, and she knew that she would never be able to endure a life lived in the same fashion. If he was to make her happy – and she dearly hoped he would, somehow, make her happy – he would need to become more sociable.

  What better place to start than by bringing his family back into his life?

  "I will do everything I can," she promised Valentina, who responded by shrieking with delight and clapping her hands.

  "Oh, Angelica! You are such a good, kind-hearted soul! I knew the moment I set eyes on you that you would be kind!"

  "Thank you," said Angelica, wishing she had some way of returning the compliment. Sadly, Valentina struck her as one of the silliest young women she had ever met. "Well, it has been a pleasure meeting you, Miss Drake."

  "The pleasure was entirely mine, Angelica! And you must remember to call me Valentina. We are very nearly cousins, after all!"

  Valentina insisted on embracing Angelica and kissing her on both cheeks, as if they were truly sisters. Angelica submitted somewhat awkwardly. The last thing she wanted to do, if she were serious about reconciling Edward and Reginald Thorne, was to let slip her true feelings about Reginald's fiancée.

  The moment Valentina had gone, Angelica left her needlework behind and dashed upstairs to see how Lily was getting on. She'd had her fill of company for the day. She was itching to talk freely with her sister – and to seek Lily's opinion on the exuberant Miss Drake.

  "I've met her once or twice," said Lily, as the doctor packed up his bag at her bedside. "We made our Come Outs in the same year. I must say, she was never so friendly with me. In fact, I think I recall her having rather a snobbish reputation."

  "You must be thinking of someone else," said Angelica, climbing onto the bed beside Lily. "This Miss Drake was anything but snobbish. She was rather too friendly, actually."

  "You must remember that you are soon to be a Duchess," Lily reminded her. "People will treat you differently."

  "No, I have quite made up my mind about Miss Drake. She was very sincere. Really, you did not meet her. She is simply a little empty-headed and excited about her wedding." Angelica sighed. "Please do not remind me about becoming a Duchess again. It still doesn't seem real."

  Lily took her hand. "But it is. And that's a good thing, isn't it? All the single
girls in England would kill to be in your shoes."

  "A poor turn of phrase," said Angelica, pulling a face. "When my husband is known to the ton as a vicious killer."

  "How is my daughter?" asked Mrs Stirling, raising her voice to draw the doctor's attention away from the girls' frank conversation. Angelica bit down a laugh. She knew her mother would never approve of her speaking that way in front of anyone but family.

  "I am as pleased as can be with Miss Stirling's progress," said the doctor. "You understand that her condition is chronic, of course, but I am confident that, as her strength improves, she will begin to resume many of her old activities. You tell me you managed a walk in the park the other day, Miss Stirling?"

  Lily beamed. "And I was not out of breath at all, Doctor."

  "No chest pain? Palpitations?"

  "No symptoms whatsoever."

  "Then I have no objection to your spending as much time out of doors as you wish. That is not to include horse riding or running, mind you. We must be cautious, mustn't we?"

  "Yes, Doctor," said Lily obediently. Angelica knew she was only being so submissive to please their mother. Lily had dearly hoped to be able to ride a horse again.

  Mrs Stirling, all smiles, showed the doctor out, leaving Lily and Angelica to resume their conversation.

  "I do not entirely agree with your impression of Miss Drake," said Lily, relaxing back onto the pillows and allowing Angelica to plait a strand of her long hair. "Be careful, Angelica. If you are too trusting, you are liable to be taken advantage of by people who covet your position."

  "La! My position is not something to be coveted, Duchess or not." Angelica fumbled the braid and dropped it onto the coverlet. "Miss Drake is nothing to be concerned about. Time will prove me right."

  "I hope it will." Lily rolled over onto her side. Angelica pulled up the covers to keep her sister warm and tiptoed out of the room. She knew that Lily would not want to admit how tired the doctor's visit had made her.

  It was very gratifying to have a cautious sister always prepared to fight her corner. In this instance, however, Angelica truly believed there was no need. Perhaps the rift with Reginald Thorne was just the opportunity she had been searching for to gain an insight into Edward's heart.